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Jerome Harrison Named To AP All-America First Team

PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State senior running back Jerome Harrison has been named to the 2005 Associated Press All-America first team Wednesday, continuing his string of postseason honors.

Over the past two weeks Harrison has been named to All-America first teams by the Football Writers Association of America, SI.com, ESPN.com, CollegeFootballNews.com and Rivals.com, along with second-team selections from the Walter Camp Football Foundation and American Football Coaches Association.

Harrison, a Kalamazoo, Mich. native, rushed for a school-record 1,900 yards, including a career-best 260 yards against UCLA. He rushed for 100-plus yards in all 11 games in 2005 and dating back to last season, rushed for 100 yards in a Pac-10-record 14 straight contests. Harrison, who last month was named to the All-Pacific-10 Conference first team, also set or tied nine single-season school records, including rushing touchdowns in a season (16) and touchdowns in a season (17), 200-yard games in a season (4) and rushing attempts (308).

Harrison, who leads the nation in rushing at 172.7 yards per game, was named one of three finalists for the Doak Walker Award, signifying the nation's top running back. Harrison was in Orlando, Fla., last Thursday for the 2005 ESPN College Football Awards Show, where the Doak Walker Award was presented to USC's Reggie Bush. Additionally, Harrison was one of 10 finalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, which was also awarded to Bush Thursday in Orlando.

Joining Harrison on the AP All-America first team were six other Pac-10 players, including three from USC: running back Reggie Bush, wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett and defensive back Darnell Bing. UCLA all-purpose player Maurice Drew, Oregon State wide receiver Mike Hass and Oregon defensive tackle Haloti Ngata were other first-team selections.

Harrison is the first Cougar to be named to the Associated Press All-America first team since 2002 when defensive tackle Rein Long was selected. Other WSU players selected to the AP first team include safety Lamont Thompson (2001), kicker Jason Hanson (1989), guards Mike Utley (1988) and Dan Lynch (1984), running back Clancy Williams (1964) and tackle Glenn 'Turk' Edwards (1930).